Fluidtight watch case



Jan. 24, 1961 E. PIQUEREZ FLUIDTIGHT WATCH CASE Original Fild Nov. 1,1955 iil A rrz United States Patent FLUIDTIGHT WATCH CASE ErvinPiquerez, Bassecourt, Jura Bernois, Switzerland Original applicationNov. 1, 1955, Ser. No. 544,332. Divided and this application Dec. 18,1959, Ser. No. 860,437

Claims priority, application Switzerland Nov. 22, 1954 1 Claim. (Cl.5890) My present application is a dvision of my copending specificationSer. No. 544,332, filed on November 1, 1955. According to my invention,there are provided annular elastic means compressed between the bottomsection of the case and the case band, said bottom section including anannular upstanding member provided with an outer flange urged upwardlyby the elastic means under the action of said elastic means which aresubjected to the upwardly directed compression exerted by a ringthreadedly engaging the inside of the case band.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a partial diametrical cross section embodying my invention.

Figure 2 illustrates in detail the elastic means in a partly sectionalelevational view.

In the accompanying drawing, the body 20 of the watch case is providedwith an annular groove 1 housing a packing 22 held in position by theouter flange 23 on the case bottom 24. Said bottom is provided with anupstanding cylindrical wall 25 to which is outwardly secured acollar-shaped stop 26 which serves for urging axially a corrugatedannular spring 14 against a second stop 27 constituted by the innerflange of an assembling ring 28. The latter is screwed inside a tappedsection 30 of the case body 20. The ring 28 turns in unison with thebottom 24 of the case as provided by the pins 31, only one of which isillustrated; however, the connection between the bottom 24 and theassembling ring i atented Jan. 24, 1961 28 provides a slight axialclearance between said parts by reason of the fact that the pins 31 areslidingly fitted in blind openings 32, the depth of which is suflicientto allow such an axial clearance. As a consequence of this arrangement,the corrugated annular spring urges the bottom 24 upwardly in thedirection of the arrow F by acting on the collar-shaped stop 26 whichleads to making the flange 23 exert a pressure on the packing 22. Byreason of the presence of equidistant corrugations on the spring 14,said pressure is uniform and constant.

It is possible to substitute for the corrugated annular spring 14 otherelastic means held under compressed conditions between an annular axialstop formed either on the case body or on the case bottom or even onanother part of the case.

Obviously, the packing is not essential since the desired fluidtightnessbetween the bottom and the case body may be obtained through directcontact between said parts without any packing therebetween.

What I claim is:

In a fluidtight watch case, the combination of two case components, abottom section and a case band, an annular packing fitted between theperipheral portion of the upper surface of the bottom section and thelower periphery of the case band, an annular member rigid with andextending over the bottom section on the inside of the case band andhaving an annular surface facing the upper surface of said bottomsection, a ring coaxial with the case and threadedly engaging the innersurface of the case band and including an inturned annular flange, theupper surface of which faces the above-mentioned annular surface in theannular member and annular elastic means fitted between the twolast-mentioned cooperating annular surfaces and urging the member rigidwith the bottom section and therewith the latter upwardly intofluidtight engagement with the case band with the interposition of thepacking.

References Cited in the tile of this patent FOREIGN PATENTS 912,538France Apr. 29, 1946 297,482 Switzerland June 1, 1954

